The Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) is responsible for strategic planning, organization, administrative operations and evaluation of the OAIC research and training program. The LAC's efforts emphasize coherence, cohesion and maintenance of the OAlC's common research theme, Integrating pathways affecting physical function for new approaches to disability prevention. Goals of the LAC are achieved by the Core Leaders in concert with three committees: the Executive Committee, the Joint Scientific Review Panel, and the External Advisory Committee. The specific functions of the LAC are to: Provide overall scientific leadership and direction for the OAIC research and training program Provide administrative and budgetary support for the program Integrate the OAIC cores and projects to: 1) facilitate communication and foster translation between basic and clinical research, and 2) ensure access of investigators to core resources Coordinate OAIC resources with other research and training grants and institutional resources Communicate with other OAlCs and the NIA, and foster collaborations with other OAIC investigators Facilitate and ensure compliance with all guidelines and regulations regarding financial operations, human subjects, and animal care and use Set productivity benchmarks, monitor progress, and ensure success of individual projects (shared aim with other cores, especially the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core) and of junior investigators (shared aim with the Research Career Development Core) Promote quality, productivity and timeliness in all OAIC activities Attract new researchers to aging research from throughout the institution and beyond Conduct the annual External Advisory Committee meeting and implement its recommendations Promote the use of uniform assessment batteries in all OAlC-supported clinical research studies to optimize the use of OAIC resources and allow integrated analyses of pivotal outcomes across studies Arrange review of proposed pilot and Research Development Projects and selection of Research Career Development Core candidates Monitor the productivity and mentoring of Research Career Development Core supported junior faculty The continued high productivity and innovation of the WFU OAIC is facilitated by sound Core leadership.